Israel on Monday announced a “total blockade” of Gaza, threatening to cut off all supplies of water, food, electricity and other essential goods into the already blockaded territory.
The announcement came three after an unprecedented attack of Hamas on Israel which had caught one of the world’s most advanced militaries off guard.
The narrow strip of land, home to over 2 million people, has already been rimmed off from the outside world since 2007, when hard-line Hamas took political control over the territory, making it the “world’s largest open-air prison”. Although one side of the territory is flanked by Egypt, the Arab country keeps a tight control over the movement of persons and goods through the lone border crossing at Rafah.
Israel's new restrictions – a complete siege, as the Jewish nation described it – are likely to have a more far-reaching impact on the lives of the ordinary people in the enclave, and can lead to scarcity of everything from water and food to essential drugs and electronics.
We look at the drastic impact that the new blockade can have on the self-ruled territory, and how it may precipitate yet another humanitarian crisis if it extends beyond a few weeks.
Water
Gazans suffer from a constant shortage of water, which gets worse in summer. Gaza relies on aquifers, water imports from Israel, and small desalination plants running on imported fuel. The tap water is salty and polluted and is not fit for drinking. As per reports, 78% of piped water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption.
However, in the absence of other alternatives, residents are forced to use this water for bathing and washing, yet the supply is irregular and unpredictable. For drinking and cooking, they have no choice but to buy water privately, which is usually substandard – despite severe financial hardships.
The main source of water in the Gaza Strip is a shallow aquifer, which is part of the coastal aquifer. The quality of the groundwater has extremely deteriorated over the years in terms of salinity and nitrate concentrations. Over-extraction has also made groundwater unsafe to drink without treatment.
This has forced the Palestinians to depend on water from outside for domestic purposes, bringing down water consumption to just 88 litres per head per day, below the minimum threshold of 100 litres laid down by WHO.
With water supply being restricted further – particularly clean water from the outside – the blockade will have dangerous and direct implications for the lives of Palestinians.
Food:
When it comes to food, the dependency on the outside world is even more for Gaza. The territory imports 80-90% of its basic food necessities from outside. This includes staples like wheat flour, rice, cooking oil, pulses, sugar, dairy products, meat and processed foods.
Local agriculture in Gaza provides some fruits, vegetables, olive oil and seafood, but not enough to be self-sufficient. Gaza has fertile land but lacks the necessary materials and infrastructure for large-scale farming.
The region relies heavily on food imports and aid, importing over 400,000 tons of food annually before the 2007 blockade. Imports have varied since depending on changing restrictions. Shortages of essential food items are common. Israeli forces have also restricted access off the Gaza coast, currently only allowing fishermen to access 50% of the fishing waters allocated for this purpose under the Oslo Accords.
Restrictions imposed by Israel on the land adjacent to the perimeter fence and confrontations with Israeli settlers also make it difficult for farmers to access their own land for the purpose of agriculture.
A further intensification of these restrictions would mean starvation or worse for the Palestinians.
Electricity
Gaza lacks infrastructural facilities to generate power for its use, which forces it to import electricity from Israel. Gaza's only power plant relies on imported industrial fuel to generate electricity.
At its current operating capacity, the Gaza Power Plant can only produce up to 80 megawatts (MW), supplemented by 120 MW purchased from Israel, meeting about 50% of the electricity demand in Gaza (400-450MW)
Fuel shortages often cause blackouts and cripple services like health, sanitation and education. Palestinians get only about 1/3 of their daily electricity needs met. A complete blockade of the electricity supply would mean a complete blackout for Palestinians.
Manufactured Goods:
Gaza produces very few manufactured goods domestically. Decades of occupation and restrictions on the movement of people and goods have hindered industrial development. Skilled labour, functioning infrastructure, and access to export markets are extremely limited. Gaza's manufacturing sector contributes only around 5-7% to GDP. Basic consumer goods like household products, clothes, furniture, appliances and electronics are imported from Israel or through tunnels from Egypt.
Due to shortages, prices for imported goods are high. Raw materials needed for production like steel rebar, piping, fertilizer and machinery are highly restricted. Although some local furniture and textile production exists, it does not contribute to the commercial needs. Essentials like fuel, construction materials and spare parts are all imported and heavily restricted.
Medical Supplies:
Gaza depends almost entirely on imported medicines and medical equipment due to the underdevelopment of any domestic pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Restrictions make it extremely difficult to import specialized supplies needed for diagnostics, surgery, chemotherapy, dialysis and other care. One 2016 study found that 50% of essential medicines and 40% of medical equipment were completely depleted at Gaza's main hospital. Patients suffer due to a lack of materials for proper testing, treatment and disease management. Doctors are forced to resort to lower-quality alternatives or rationing scarce supplies.
Because of this, Gazans often have to travel outside the territory for procedures and advanced medical care. This, already difficult, will become impossible with the new restrictions. In short, the new restrictions announced by Israel have the potential to severely disrupt the daily lives of more than 2 million people living in the Gaza Strip. The only hope for them would be a quick cessation of hostilities and a return to ‘normalcy’. However, that seems unlikely, going by the trajectory of the war, and commentary from both sides.